He scoffed in a way that told me he was never going to agree to that. But, when I didn’t relent with my gaze and continued to stare at him like this was the boundary that he was going to stay in, he sighed.
“Fine.”
I raised my eyebrows, surprised that he’d given in so quickly. “Fine?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I will only give you bland compliments.”
I smiled. “Great.”
He smile returned and winked as he pulled back. “Perfect. Now clean me up before Bonnie has a conniption fit.”
8
LIAM
I normally hated sitting in silence. I always felt the need to speak. But for some reason, while sitting in the bathroom with Sabrina, the silence was comforting.
Perhaps, I was just distracted by the way her fingers lightly brushed my skin as she gently guided my head upwards so she could get a better look. Or maybe it was the intense way she studied my face as she brought the warm washcloth up to my cheek and dabbed.
Or maybe I was distracted by the proximity of her body to mine.
She was close…so close.
I winced as she pressed a bit too hard on my bruised cheekbone. I sucked in my breath and pulled back. Sabrina’s eyes widened as she glanced down at me.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. She scrunched her eyebrows together as she bit the edge of her lower lip.
In that moment, all I wanted to do was take her worry away. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel bad, so I put on my best cocky smile and shrugged. “No big deal,” I said with a wink.
Her expression deadpanned.
I held up my hands in surrender. “Sorry.” It was going to be a struggle to rein in my base nature. “Although, in my defense, winks aren’t compliments.” I smiled up at her.
She met my gaze for a moment before she sighed.
“The key word earlier was, professional,” she said as her fingers gripped my chin once more before guiding my face back to the previous position.
Silence fell between us.
“So…” She pulled her hand back as she glanced at me and then reached over to the faucet, where she turned on the water and stuck the washcloth under it.
I quirked an eyebrow before pain shot through me, and I realized I’d just moved the eyebrow that one of Frankie’s thugs had split open when he punched me in the face last night. I forced my face to relax before she looked back at me. “So?” I asked.
Sabrina turned off the faucet before glancing over at me. “Did you get back late last night?” she asked.
I scoffed. “I’m a rock star,” I said in a nonchalant tone.
Sabrina frowned.
I sighed. “Went out to the bar. Met some fans. Had a little too much to drink.” I shrugged. “The rock star life.”
But none of that was true. I’d spent the night recording some new Drifter songs and then got a text with a picture of Ana from an unknown number. It said to meet them at some abandoned warehouse, where I was met with a few of Frankie’s thugs who didn’t keep their promise to not hit me in the face. I was on the ground with a splitting headache while they stood over me, promising that if I didn’t come up with a hundred grand, in good faith money, things were going to get a lot worse.
When I got back to the hotel, I texted Katie just to make sure that Ana was safe before I passed out on the couch. I hadn’t even thought to take care of the cuts before Sabrina saw them. I was used to the bachelor life and forgot that Sabrina was going to see my mess in the morning.
Sabrina flicked her gaze over to meet mine and then returned it back to my cheek. “Maybe it’s time to party a little less,” she said as she pulled the washcloth away from my face and set it down on the sink. She glanced around like she was looking for something. “I don’t see any antiseptic cream. Let me call down to the front desk and see if they can send something up.”
I leaned back against the toilet. “Sounds good.”
